


The Scars of Time

by imthederpyfox



Series: Doctor Who (11th Doctor) [1]
Category: Doctor Who (2005)
Genre: Angst, Anorexia, Anxiety, Blood, Bulimia, Exhaustion, Fainting, Neglect, Other, Panic Attacks, Passing Out, Possible good ending, Recovery, Running, Self Harm, Self hurt, Vomit, eating dissorder, heat exhaustion
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2018-03-15
Updated: 2018-12-30
Packaged: 2019-03-31 20:36:29
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 2
Words: 1,418
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/13982877
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/imthederpyfox/pseuds/imthederpyfox
Summary: The Doctor is lost with himself after Amy and Rory begin with their own lives again.Whenever he turns up he's their usual energetic mad man in a box.But this time is different. Something's definitely wrong and they're going to find out what.





	1. Strain

**Author's Note:**

> Been thinking about writing one of these for ages but never started writing it. 
> 
> I'm in a bit of a bad place but let's see where this goes.

It had been a couple months for them, settling back into their usual speed of life. Working, hanging out, watching TV, cooking, then repeat the next day.   
No waking up at 3 in the morning because the Doctor wanted them to see a river made of silk or make cookies with custard baked into them to see how they tasted with fish fingers.   
It was nice, strange, but becoming routine.   
And that was when the Doctor turned up on their doorstep, rain soaked, giving a faint smile. It had been months for them but God knows how long for him.   
Amy was about to greet him when he toppled to the ground, barely being caught in the girls arms before he could actually drop.   
She pulled him inside and called upstairs to Rory, who came rushing down. He helped her put him on the couch and she explained while she comber her fingers through his floppy fringe.  
"Doctor?" Amy asked as the Timelord opened his eyes slowly, looking around him before quickly getting up as Rory came back in with some of his nurse tools. "Hey there, calm down Mr.Flippy!" Amy smirked as the Doctor turned on the spot, fiddling with his bowtie.   
"Ah, yes, hello!" He greeted, seeing their confused faces. "What's wrong? What happened?"   
Amy stopped him before he could bring his sonic screwdriver out of his pocket. "It's ok, Doctor. Dont worry, you're in our house. You sorta... Fainted." She explained.   
'Fainted'? He mouthed the word back at her before looking round to Rory. "Ah, Rory! Hello!" He smiled widely and Rory gave a tiny wave. "Right, yes, come along Ponds. We have work to do." And with that he was out the door, his companions exchanging looks of confusion before following him out into the rain and into the TARDIS.   
"Doctor are you ok?" Amy asked, leaning against the console as the doors closed behind them.   
"Terrific! We have places to go and things to see, what could be better?" The Timelord smiled and punched buttons, flicked switches, and fiddled with the monitor.   
"But, Doctor, you passed out." Rory stated, coming round to stand next to the man.   
It was strange, there was something wrong. His eyes and cheeks seemed more sunken and he held small black bags under his eyes. His skin seemed paler and his hair less bouncy. But he gave the nurse his award winning smile and bopped him on the nose before turning quickly and walking around the opposite side of the console to the both of them. "Nothing to worry about Rory, I pass out a lot. Happens when you travel. You've seen me do it multiple times! Now, to a planet made of mouldable clay, orrrrr, a planet made of entirely sushi restaurants? Or maybe we could visit the jungle planet of Vhanxe! Lovely creatures, lovely forests, lovely food!"   
Rory and Amy exchanged a look, and Rory knew his wife had noticed the changes in the Doctor's appearance as well.   
"Lovely food?" Amy questioned.   
"Yes, brilliant little café's, nothing too extravagant." The Timelord smiled and typed in coordinates. "So, Vhanxe?"   
"Vhanxe." Rory answered and Amy nodded.   
The Doctor smiled and pulled the trigger, the TARDIS rumbling to life and tossing them around, all three laughing as the TARDIS moved through the time vortex, taking them to their destination.   
Once they'd landed the Doctor smiled at them and put his arm to one side, letting them go first.   
He heard them talking about the place they'd just seen as he looked down at the counter, pushing some buttons and smiling at his friends conversations before letting his eyes fall toward the stairway to the underneath of the hub.   
"You coming, Doctor?" Amy called from in the doorway.   
The Timelord smiled and turned to face them. "Of course, Pond! Sometimes the old girls a bit iffy with this area so had to make sure she was Parker properly!" He clapped his hands together and rushed over, leaving the door and letting Rory close it as he rushed off.   
Amy glanced at her husband, they both felt something was wrong but neither of them knew what. And they couldn't think about it right now, seen as they didn't want to lose the Doctor.


	2. denial

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I know it's been a while, but it has been for all of my stories, sorry :(

"What's wrong with him?" Amy whispered to Rory as they walked.   
"I'm not sure, but it's definitely something."  
They watched the taller man ahead of them. To any outsider he would seem to all a bubbly, happy-go-lucky man. But they knew better than to believe that by now. They knew how good he was at hiding things, it was when his emotions came to boiling point that he let everything out. It wasn't often... They could see something, just beneath the surface, something they couldn't quite see. Something... in the corner of their eyes...  
"We'll keep an eye on him, see what happens." Amy suggested and Rory quickly nodded.  
"Well, come on, Ponds! We Haven't got all of time, there's places to go, people to save, things to see!" The Doctor's voice came from in front and he turned to look at them, a large smile coming over his features. He watched them for a moment, catching on that they didn't seem as excited as usual. He turned back round, continuing his long strides. "I think there's a bar or café up this way, my treat!" He called back, barely giving them time to catch up. If they wanted to talk about him, who was he to try and stop them...?

They made it into small bar up the way, outside was a massive expanse of jungle. It was beautiful, large canopied trees, fairy lights on the very edge, the sound of a nearby waterfall. But there wasn't any time to focus on that, they would be too busy trying to figure out what was wrong with their Doctor.   
Amy and Rory took a seat on the opposite side of the table, waiting for the Doctor to come back with some drinks and food. "Ok, so we keep quiet for now and see how things go." Rory repeated.  
"Yes, if he thinks we're analysing him he'll probably just wanna drop us off back home." Amy replied, pretending to look over a menu of completely foreign items.   
"Right." Rory nodded. "But, what do we do if we DO notice anything? We'll have to say something."   
Any paused, opening and closing her mouth a few times as if trying to think of what to say. "I'm not sure. We'll cross that bridge when we come to it."   
They both nodded to each other as the Doctor returned, all smiles and bouncing as he brought over tray of drinks for the three of them. "Well, I got a few different ones so we could try them all!" He said happily, sitting down and handing them both a small shot of light blue liquid. "I think there may be alcohol in some of them, but all part of the fun, right!"   
"Right!" Amy replied, giving a small laugh.  
"Cheers!"  
They all clinked their glasses together and downed whatever was inside. It started off as the most sour thing they had ever tasted, before moving to spicy, then finally a milky taste. "I'm not sure I liked that." Rory commented and the other two laughed. 

They continued talking and trying drinks for a little while, observing the atmosphere, the different kinds of aliens which looked fairly similar to Earth's rain forest creatures. There was a large spherical fish tank that floated around the restaurant area that was pretty cool, and the lights would change to look like it was raining above every so often.   
"So, didn't you order and food, Doctor?" Amy finally had to ask. The Doctor was looking slightly skinnier than usual.  
"Huh?" He asked, looking up with a smile only for it to drop for a split second when her words registered.   
"Not exactly healthy to be drinking this much without food." Rory added, pretending to just be the worried nurse.   
"But of course, Ponds! I didn't know if you wanted any yet, I saw you looking at the menu before. Anything you'd like?" He asked, a little too pleasantly.   
"Oh, well I don't really recognise anything, so..." She glanced back at the menu she'd hardly looked at before. "Surprise us." She smiled, kindly.   
The Doctor nodded and stood, going back over to the bar.   
"Keep an eye on him when he eats..." She whispered to Rory, who nodded.


End file.
